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Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Scandal-Plagued Govt. Agency Must Pay Artist $3.5 Mil for Stealing His Work

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(CNBNewsnet)(July 7, 2018)A perpetually troubled government agency notorious for its egregious spending sprees and dire financial woes has been ordered by a federal court to pay an artist millions of dollars for copyright infringement. Even for the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service (USPS), a bastion of mismanagement, this appears to be a new low. The settlement and legal costs accrued during years of litigation could have easily been avoided if the scandal-plagued agency wasn’t so negligent.

The USPS knowingly featured an artist’s modified replica of the Statue of Liberty on a stamp rather than the original on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It wasn’t a mistake, but rather typical USPS carelessness. The copy was created by a sculptor named Robert Davidson for a Las Vegas casino. The artist reportedly softened the famous American icon’s face in the casino version by using a picture of his mother-in-law. When the USPS launched the forever stamp in 2011, it was obvious to many that it illustrated the modified artist’s version and not the original statue, which was a gift of friendship from France to the United States and is considered a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. In 2013 the artist sued for copyright infringement.

The USPS asserted that Davidson had no copyright over an iconic symbol, even though it was an artistically modified version of the original that makes it unique. The government made a killing—about $70 million—selling the Statue of Liberty stamp but insisted it owed the artist nothing. The United States Court of Federal Claims, which hears private monetary claims against the government, disagreed blasting the USPS for offering neither public attribution nor apology for using the artist’s work. The court determined that Davidson’s replica of the Statue of Liberty is an original sculpture protected by copyright laws and recently ordered the USPS to pay him $3.5 million for royalties he would have made had he negotiated a license with the agency. “A comparison of the two faces unmistakably shows that they are different,” the court order states. “We agree that Mr. Davidson’s statue evokes a softer and more feminine appeal. The eyes are different, the jaw line is less massive and the whole face is more rounded.”

Profiting from an artist’s stolen work is simply the latest of many transgressions committed by the USPS in recent years. Judicial Watch has reported extensively on the USPS’s ongoing troubles and monstrous financial problems. In two recent quarters the USPS reported that it lost an eye-popping $1.9 billion and $1.5 billion despite an operating revenue increase. On the heels of that astounding news, a federal audit slammed the USPS for blowing the opportunity to save nearly $22 million had it bothered to maintain its fleet of vehicles more efficiently. A few years before that the USPS blew hundreds of thousands of dollars on professional sports tickets, booze and fancy meals while it claimed to be crippled by an $8.3 billion deficit. The items were purchased by USPS managers and employees with special charge cards issued to U.S. government agencies. These serious blunders are par for the course at the nation’s postal agency, which simply turns to Congress—and taxpayers—for bailouts whenever it digs a hole for itself.

The USPS’s top executives have also been found to receive illegally high salary and compensation packages that should outrage American taxpayers. A USPS Inspector General report disclosed that at least three USPS officers made more than the legal compensation limit for their respective work category in recent years. At the time two former USPS officials were set to collect monstrous “deferred executive retention bonuses”—former Postmaster General John Potter $786,301 and former Chief Information Officer Ross Philo $642,999—while the agency was billions in the red.

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Scandal-Plagued Govt. Agency Must Pay Artist $3.5 Mil for Stealing His Work

CNBNews graphics file

(CNBNewsnet)(July 7, 2018)A perpetually troubled government agency notorious for its egregious spending sprees and dire financial woes has been ordered by a federal court to pay an artist millions of dollars for copyright infringement. Even for the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service (USPS), a bastion of mismanagement, this appears to be a new low. The settlement and legal costs accrued during years of litigation could have easily been avoided if the scandal-plagued agency wasn’t so negligent.

November 2018

CNBNewsnet is a community news website covering the South Jersey/Philadelphia region with a focus on Gloucester City, Audubon, Brooklawn, Bellmawr, Mount Ephraim, and Westville. The site is updated continuously throughout the week with original stories, photos and calendar listings as well as curated articles of interest from around the web. Every day, we connect our readers to their home towns and to the communities around them by providing:
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Thousands attended this year's Irish Parade. It was cold, brisk sunny day. Special guests included NJ Governor Phil Murphy and the Deputy Consul General, Shane Cahill. In the line of march were string bands, bagpipes, Irish dancers, Irish music, community groups and floats. The parade began at Martin’s Lake at the intersection of Baynes Avenue and Johnson Boulevard and proceeded down Monmouth Street to King Street before ending at Proprietor’s Park.
Before the parade there was an opening Ceremony Mass at St. Mary’s, 426 Monmouth Street .
Photo credits: Bruce Darrow, Gus Danks, Frank Kelly, Connie Lynn Woods

The remnants of the greatest day ever remain in the streets of Philadelphia, or, if you were there, in your clothes, up your nostrils, under your fingernails, like grains of sand after a day at the beach. They will never go away. And who would want them to, anyway? The Eagles’ Parade Of Champions from Thursday resonates like no day in the history of the City of Philadelphia ...(photo credit) Amanda Stevenson Lupke
http://www.gloucestercitynews.net/clearysnotebook/2018/02/a-parade-to-remember-forever-.html

by CNBNews Staff
BROOKLAWN, NJ (CNBNewsnet)—The Alice Costello Elementary School (ACES) was one of this year’s winners of the Philadelphia Phillies Phanatic About Reading program. The Phillie Phanatic is the star of children's books and as a result has turned his love of reading into the exciting Phanatic About Reading program presented by Comcast.
Studies have shown that children who are encouraged to read items of their own choosing tend to spend more time reading independently, and as a result, their literacy scores improve. Founded in 2004, the program encourages students to read for a minimum of 15 minutes a day to improve their literacy skills. Each year teachers in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area are encouraged to enroll their classrooms and join the nearly 40,000 students already reading with the Phanatic! (source Phillie Phanatic website)
http://www.gloucestercitynews.net/clearysnotebook/2017/05/phillies-phanatic-visits-alice-costello-school.html#more

Our first Memories album was so well received I decided to start a second one. If you have any photos you like to submit to add to any of the albums on our site send them to CNBNewsnet@gmail.com. Please include a brief description and the approximate year the picture was taken.

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The album includes some random shots of some of the many vehicles on display at the Philadelphia Auto Show held at the Convention Center.
The 2016 Philadelphia Auto Show, produced and owned by the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia, rolls into the Pennsylvania Convention Center Jan. 30 to Feb. 7. This year's event will feature 700 vehicles from more than 40 worldwide manufacturers. Highlights include an array of concept, classic, luxury, pre-production and exotic models. Ticket prices range from $7 to $14. For more information, visit phillyautoshow.com.
PHOTO CREDIT CNBNews Photo Journalist Amanda Stevenson Lupke http://www.amandastevensonphoto.com

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (CNBNewsnet)--The Gloucester City Middle School, 500 unit block of Market Street, Gloucester City opened on Tuesday, September 5, 2017. The $87 million school will house an estimated 685 students from grade 4 up to grade 8. The new 122,000 square-foot school includes 27 general classrooms, eight special education classrooms, three science classrooms, a cafetorium with stage, gymnasium, media center, computer lab and administrative offices. (https://www.njsda.gov/)
Photos by Miguel Perez

Friends and family of Gloucester City native Cpl. Marc Ryan gathered at the Gloucester City v. Penns Grove game Saturday to retire Ryan's jersey after he was killed in Iraq nearly three years ago. (SEPTEMBER 22, 2007)
photos by Bruce Darrow

SPEAK OUT!

photos by B. Darrow
Girls
Catholic jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the first quarter and was led by Caitlyn Sweeney and Julie Genther, who had 16 and 10 points respectively. Sweeney also hit the only two 3s of the game as the Rams improved to 9-6 overall. Marisa Cooper dropped 17 in the loss, but it was not enough as Gloucester falls to 12-2 on the season.

By Lois Lane, gossip columnist for ClearysNoteBook
The Gloucester City Breakfast Club had a huge turnout for their December 29 meeting held at the Dining Car Depot, Monmouth Street at the Railroad. Some thirty-nine men were in attendance.
Hank Miller won the prize for coming the longest distance.Breakfast_club_december_07_003 The former Gloucester resident, who writes the column When East Meets West for ClearysNoteBook, flew in from his home in Kitakyushu City, Japan just for the breakfast.
Winning second place was former Gloucesterite Jack Bowe, who traveled from St. Louis Missouri to see his friends. Third was Bill Wibby Yeager who drove from Dover, Delaware. Fourth and Fifth Place goes to Butch Shaffer (Cape May) and Ron Raube (Mays Landing). The winners each received a second cup of coffee at no charge plus all the water they could drink.
El Presidente Chas Pitzo announced that Bill Cleary has resigned as treasurer and Jack Heiser volunteered to take his place. Pitzo gave a treasury report stating there was $400 in the account.
Speaking of Cleary he was the winner of the 50-50 this month. Since he was chosen to pick the stub out of the bucket some members thought he shouldn't be eligible to Breakfast_club_december_07_006 win. The executive board held an emergency meeting and ruled he could keep the prize ($19.02) as long as he picked up the tab for everyone's breakfast. Needless to say when it came time to pay the check Cleary was no where to be found.
Besides those already mentioned others in attendance included: Sam Chew, Frank Grandizio, Tom and Bud Wrigley, John Lang, Joe Boulden, Bob Bevan, Frank Cipolone, Bob Sliwa, Jack Persichetti, Ron Middleton, Joe DiGiacomo, Earl Kaighn, Walt Hall, Stu Rechard, Tom Moody.
Also, Gary Marcucci, John Hindsley, Joe Raube, Rick Gonzales, Jim and Harry Blymer, Mike Bowe, Joe Miller, Chalie Tourtual, Harry Walker, Tom ChooChoo Murphy, and Bob Bevan.
The next meeting, Saturday, January 26 at 9 AM. To become a member you must be a male, be able to eat breakfast and enjoy laughing. Also you need to know the answer to this question……where was the Charles Street Stadium located? Just in case you need a hint it was somewhere in Gloucester City.

An estimated 150 members attended the annual event held October 15 at the Gloucester Heights Fire Hall, Nicholson Road. The photo is Ray Ford who began the affair so many years ago. Alumni from Gloucester Catholic HS and Gloucester City HS are shown in the album.
photos by Frank Weichmann